Ithaca College Top Questions

This stereotype is accurate to some degree. But there are SEVERAL students who have very conservative views and are not at all afraid to express them along with their ignorance.

No. That is all I heard senior year of high school before I came here and it is not true. We do have those kinds of people, but we are a very diverse college with many different types of people.

My experience was that Ithaca had something for everyone. Yeah, there are the neo-hippies, but there were also jocks, film/communications geeks (I say that in a loving way!), moody writers, dramatic theatre majors, focused music majors, driven business students, and just about every other group you can think of - and probably some you can't. Also, I found that people from all of these different groups were usually able to mix with each other pretty well. As for any liberal bias, well, you'll find that on most college campuses. There is an IC Republicans group, however, if that's your thing. Never witnessed any Red State vs. Blue State fistfights!

A student tells us about Ithaca's reputation.

A student tells us about Ithaca's reputation.

A student tells us about Ithaca's reputation.

Absolutely...100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}

No- you don't have to smoke pot or be a hippie! But YES- the science programs are phenominal!!

Yes it's cold and part of the college does fit the descrption of a stoner.

there is a higher population of "hippies" in Ithaca than in other cities surrounding Ithaca. the majority of students are caucasion, but the numbers of ethnic backgrounds are growing. Ithaca actually has a lot of majors with strong backgrounds, and its not only music and art.

Not at all

As most stereotypes... sometimes the shoe fits but for the most part people are from all over the northeast and come from a variety of backgrounds.

Most of my friends who didn't come to college smoking pot, had begun by the end of freshman year. Pretty much everyone I encountered smoked pot. It's true that Cornellians are way more motivated and have a lot more interest in what they are learning. They spend more time at the library than kids at Ithaca, and study way harder. This was bad for me, because it made me wish more kids cared at Ithaca about school, and put it on their top priority list. It led to me trasfering after sophomore year because the college environment there was so different between the colleges. EVERYONE IS NOT A HIPPIE IN ITHACA. In fact, I found it hard to find the hippies, and ran into way more jocks than anyone else on campus. Be prepared.

Yes for the most part, although while students love to party, they also care a lot about going to class and getting good grades. No one pays $40,000+ in tuition a year to drink beer or smoke pot by any means of the imagination. The student body is fairly attractive, and while it does snow a lot in the winter, the spring and summer are BEAUTIFUL!

1) Partially, there are far more students at IC who would identify with the far left than with the far right, but honestly it is mostly people whose political action is limited to bumper stickers and elements of a Facebook profile. In other words, no different than any other school. Also, there is weed everywhere, and probably less at IC than many other comprable schools. 2) No. Are there parties? Oh yeah. Can you party four nights a week and still finish your degree in four years, if ever? Probably not. Ithaca isn't a school of easy A's. Students there may party hard at times, but they have to work twice as hard in order to be able to stay there. A lot of people make the hard partying mistake their first or second year and end up in big academic trouble. 3) Ithaca is not a racially diverse school, but in every other aspect it is a very diverse campus. Yes, a lot of the student body is financially well off, but Ithaca also gives out a ton of money in scholarships and other forms of aid to a lot of students who are less privileged. If you look hard enough, you can find a mix of students from almost all walks of life, which leads to a really interesting and vibrant campus community.

To a certain extent

yes

Well.. some of them are true. You have your hardy partiers and your major stoners.. but there are normal people on campus too! :)

There isn't much diversity at the school. There are more girls than there are boys.

It is true that there's a lot of hippies-smoking weed is common in Ithaca. It's also true that there's not much diversity-i think the percentage of whites is over 95{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}.

yes

The majority

yes....

The truth is that Ithaca College is full of hippies whose parents have obscene amounts of money, so they're a special kind of hippie; there ARE moderates and conservatives at Ithaca even though they've told me they feel too cowed and intimidated by the left on campus to do or say much; and honestly, Ithaca and Cornell aren't in competition, and no one really cares about Cornell except to go to their frat and sorority parties.

Only if you make them accurate.

There is a lot of smoking here, but if you don't want to get involved no one will force you. I don't smoke, I never have. I know a lot of people who do but it's not a big deal if you don't get into that scene. As far as being a liberal campus, I would even go so far as to say there are a lot of radical students here. If you're not a liberal, you might want to fly under the radar if you're not prepared to back up and support your conservative beliefs.

There are definatly girls in Uggs here, but there are lots of other girls who don't. It does snow, but not THAT much, the real tough part of winter is the wind. Which is why I don't really understand why people wear sweat pants to class all winter. They are cold. All this is totally worth it when the snow melts and everyone hangs out together outside with an amazing view of the lake.

yes

pretty much.

IC, as well as the city of Ithaca, is known to be a progressive society, with a lot of freedom in expression, regarding politics and sexual orientation, among others. IC is a very gay-friendly environment, so maybe self-expression is more welcomed, encouraged, and accepted.

Not so much. There is such a diverse amount of groups here that stereotyping here is very hard to do, especially because the dominate majors on campus are so different. See more down at academics.

Somewhat... :)

There are liberal hippies that attend IC, and the general atmosphere of Ithaca's campus seems to have a liberal feel to it. However, you do not have to be a liberal hippie to go here and feel like you belong! Therefore, there is some truth to the stereotype, but like most stereotypes, it certainly does not apply to all of the students at IC.

Yes, it is one of the most liberal places I have ever been, and is one of the smartest cities in the world.

somewhat

Smoking...yes it is done, quite a bit. but not by everyone. Sports, yes very popular. Diversity, none. 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} true- don't let the admissions office bullshit you otherwise. Gay/Lesbian, hardly noticeable unless you're in the Music School. Hippies...yea there are some. The other ones are generally true also.

I'm not from New York state and I don't smoke weed so I don't think those stereotypes are completely accurate. I've met a wide variety of people at IC.

Yes, to a certain degree. I met this girl who was named like Moonshine or something and she had this stupid hippie skirt on and she told me, "My parents used to roll the joints for my parties in high school!" She was trying way too hard. There are a lot of legitimate hippie kids, but also tons of silly posers. Not everyone is a hippie also, there are plenty of asshole jocks at Ithaca too, which surprised me.

The stuck up part but not everyone is rich

the hippie thing is true to an extent, very organic and earth conscious. I don't smoke weed, along with a lot of other students, and not everyone is rich.

Mostly.

1. In general, we may be more liberal and relaxed than student bodies at other institutions, but that doesn't mean that we don't care about the things going on around us. If anything, I'd have to say that we care more, or at least we show it. We're willing to listen to a lot of different opinions and everyone's comfortable doing and believing their own thing. 2. I can't officially say if we are or are not smarter than the students at Cornell, but Ithaca kids aren't dumb. I could have easily gotten into Cornell without a sweat, given my high school gpa and grades, but I chose to come to Ithaca because it has a great program for my major and because it has a relaxed, inviting atmosphere. We may not "grow-up" to be engineers of every shape and kind, but Ithaca students graduate with an extremely reputable degree and have the eclectic liberal arts background to back it. 3. You're going to find students smoking no matter where you go in today's society. I think this just goes along with the whole "Ithaca is a bunch of hippies" idea. Yes, you will see at least 3 hookahs out towards the end of a nice day with a bunch of people sitting around them, but that doesn't mean that everyone's doing it. As for weed, it's more prominent on any campus then you'd probably expect it to be. Just because Ithaca's got a no-tolerance policy with it, that doesn't mean it's not prevalent on campus, but like I said with the hookah, not everyone does it.

yes

just the weather one

Although Ithaca, the town is very liberal, the amount of students that smoke pot isn't as high as you would think.

Yes.

There's definitely a hippie-vibe to the town, but there's so much more beyond that. Plenty of people who live here have no focus on being environmentally friendly. I definitely know students who do fit the stereotype, but to assume that all of us do is just wrong. There's a huge variety of people that go here, even some with hardcore conservative political leanings.

Definitely

While there is a large liberal bias in town, and there is a more vocal liberal base on campus, there are plenty of conservatives around. Also, lots of people smoke pot, but I don't think the levels are much different here than at any other school.

There are many students from wealthy families who fit the stereotype, but also many down-to-earth people who are more open minded.